By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- In the first NCAA Division III Men's Tennis West Region Rankings of 2012-13 released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), Willamette is listed at #19 in the team rankings and Bearcat senior Joshua Wong (Hilo, HI/Hilo HS) is ranked #6 in singles.

Wong finished second in the singles bracket at the USTA/ITA Northwest Small College Championships this fall. He was defeated in the final by Colton Malesovas of Whitman College, 6-4, 7-5.

Aaron Skinner from Trinity University (Texas) tops the men's singles list for the West Region with a #1 ranking. He is followed by Neel Kotrappa from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at #2 and Malesovas at #3. Chris Wiechert from Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.) is #4 and Ryan Ybarra from the University of Texas at Tyler is ranked #5.

Wong holds the highest ranking of four Northwest Conference athletes listed in the Top 25 in singles. Andrew La Cava of Whitman College is ranked #10, Andy Riggs from Whitman is ranked #13 and Giancarlo Battaglia of Pacific University is ranked #14.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is first in the team rankings, with the University of California-Santa Cruz at #2 and Trinity at #3. Pomona-Pitzer owns the #4 ranking and California Lutheran University is listed at #5

A total of five NWC teams are ranked in the West Region. In addition to Willamette, other NWC teams in the rankings are Whitman at #6, George Fox University is #11, Pacific at #12 and Whitworth University at #20.

All of the ITA rankings are located on the association's website at rankings can be found at www.itatennis.com.